Change at 30,000 Feet

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, leadership, strategy

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You're settled into your seat for a long airplane trip — reclined, shoes off, drink on tray table, magazine open to that article you've been waiting to read once you finally had enough time. Suddenly, the flight attendant asks you to switch seats with another passenger — your comfortable environment and mental harmony is now disrupted, and it will require some deliberate focus and nurturing to get you back on track.

Imagine that same seat-swapping scenario occurring during a period of severe weather turbulence. Not only were you already anxious and feeling unstable in your current seat, you now have to collect yourself, mobilize and get re-oriented in a new place while trying to balance and keep from falling.

Change is usually not easy, and change amidst instability is even more difficult. Yet that's how many employees are feeling lately as their companies reorganize, reallocate resources, cut costs and downsize staff while the economy searches for stabilization.

Whether you are the one initiating or adapting, adequate time should be allowed for contemplation and preparation before transition can be welcomed. Otherwise any change will be met with resistance. To encourage employee buy-in, a woman I met recently shared how her company applied the "head, heart, hands" concept as an organizational imperative as they underwent some restructuring.

Knowing that staff would find any change unsettling, the company's leadership created a unified plan to fully communicate and engage their teams before taking any action. Explaining all the logical and rational reasons for the change would enable staff to begin intellectually processing the information (head); acknowledging how the change would make employees feel before, during and after implementation would assuage their fear (heart); and outlining the tactical plan and ensuing goals would satisfy their need for action (hands).

We're always cautioning executives not to "hunker down" at work. They also shouldn't bend, cower, hide, kneel or crouch. But the current economic environment may make employees feel like throwing on a cloak of invisibility to avoid being noticed, believing they will escape the lay-off list.

Yet, during periods of job growth and prosperity, career planning and maintenance are often overlooked because of the perceived abundance of opportunities available.

Those who are fearful keep their head low to miss the ax; those who are busy at work have their head down in deep focus. But denial and complacency share a characteristic: inaction, which can derail a career for those who are unprepared.

Despite the recent economic instability, fewer corporate leaders feel prepared for job search than they did in years prior. According to ExecuNet's 2009 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report, just 43 percent of executives claimed they are ready to look for a job, compared to 56 percent in 2008 and 69 percent in 2007; another 24 percent reported this year they were unsure if they are ready to look for a new position.

It could be that "prepared" seems less defined against a recessionary backdrop, and fewer executives feel confident about how to launch a job search campaign in this market. But many of the old rules still prevail, albeit with some amplification and 21^st century tools:

Focus, define and envision what your next role looks like.
Create messages that communicate the problems you solve to your target audience.
Identify the online and offline opportunities where you can best help others.
Become known for your expertise so others can refer and recommend you.

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Robyn Greenspan's avatar Robyn Greenspan
Robyn Greenspan is the Editor-in-Chief at ExecuNet, where she is responsible for setting and driving the editorial content engagement strategy across the private business network's publications and expert-led programming. She is also a Huffington Post blogger. You can follow her on Twitter @RobynGreenspan